“When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord
appeared to him and said, ‘I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless.
No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made
you a father of many nations.’”

Today, we will see Sarah’s impatience and the birth of
Ishmael as a result of his human calculation. God appeared to Abram after 13
years of silence and rebuked him to walk before him and be blameless. Then God
changed his name from Abram to Abraham and renewed his covenant as an
everlasting covenant. God commanded Abram and all males in his households to be
circumcised as the sign of the covenant. Abraham obeyed God’s command
immediately. Let’s walk before God Almighty and live as a father of many
nations. I pray that we may believe the promise of God and live as his covenant
children and inherit the kingdom of God as our everlasting possession. May God
bless us to grow in our inner spiritual character through our blameless life of
faith before God so that we may keep God’s abundant blessing.

PART I. THE BIRTH OF ISHMAEL (16:1-16)

In chapter 15 Abram became
impatient when there was no sign of a promised son. God confirmed his covenant
with Abram to give him a son from his own body with a special ceremony. Look at
15:4b-6, “This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body
will be your heir. He took him outside and said, ‘Look up at the heavens and
count the stars-if indeed you can count them.’ Then he said to him, ‘So shall
your offspring be.’ Abraham believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as
righteousness.” God strengthened Abram’s faith. But in chapter16, it was
Sarai’s turn and she became impatient. Look at verses 1 and 2. “Now Sarai,
Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian maidservant
named Hagar, so she said to Abram, ‘The Lord has kept me from having children,
Go, sleep with my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family through her.’”
Though ten years had passed, there was no sign of a son. Sarah felt sorry for
Abram because she could not produce a son for him. She felt a strong sense of
obligation to produce a son by any means. She became fatalistic about herself,
and said, “The Lord has kept me from having children.” She could not wait for
God’s appointed time. She concluded that God kept her from having children.” In
a sense she blamed God for her childless problem. She lost her faith in God’s
promise and fell into her human thinking. Her impatience turned into unbelief.
Instead of waiting for God’s time, She began to find a way to give a son to
Abram. Then a brilliant human idea came to Sarah, “Well, as long as a son comes
from the body of Abram, it is okay. Hagar seems to be strong and attractive. Why
did I not think about this alternative solution before? Let me have a son for
Abram through Hagar.” In addition, it was the custom of that time to solve a no
son problem through a concubine. But her idea was against God’s plan of a
family-one wife and one husband. One day she told Abram, “Go, sleep with my
maidservant; perhaps I can build a family through her.” It was a hard decision
for Sarah to give Abram to Hagar. But she thought that that was her best option
to build a family through Hagar. What’s wrong with her decision? Sarah did not
inquire of the Lord before she made this decision. She tried to have a covenant
son through her human effort. God said, “I will make you a great nation.”
(12:2) But Sarah said, “Perhaps I will build family through her.”(2b) “Perhaps”
is a word of unbelief. God’s covenant will be fulfilled by God but not by our
human means. She ignored God’s plan and allowed Abram to sleep with Hagar. She
tried to achieve her human goal by using Hagar’s body. The source of unbelief
came from her human calculation and impatience.

Abram agreed to what Sarai said; he slept with Hagar, and
she conceived. How could Abram agree with such a decision? Abram listened to
Sarah’s suggestion because it was a hard offer to refuse. Sarah’s approval and his
heart desire to have a son emboldened Abram to sleep with Hagar. But Abram was
a man of faith and Abram should have prayed about this; he should have listened
to God’s voice instead of the voice of his wife. Actually, he was listening to
the voice of his deep desire. So he did not wait on God, but used human means
to solve his problem. We are responsible for our actions, even if someone else
gives unwise counsel. It was an easy solution but created a deeper problem.

What was the consequence of their human calculation? Their
decision brought chaos to their household. Human mistake brought family strife
and jealousy and hatred. After Hagar became pregnant, she became proud and
began to despise her mistress, Sarai. She said, “Hey! Sarah! Look at my stomach.
You are a barren woman and I am pregnant. Do not tell me what to do. I should
be the top wife in this household.” Abram said, “Good morning, Hagar! How’s the
baby?” When Sarai complained to Abram, he said, “She’s your servant; do
whatever you think best.” Abram became a sandwich man between two powerful
women. He became helpless. One day he tried to please Hagar and next day he
tried to please Sarah. There was no rest in him. He had many splitting
headaches to please both of them at the same time. His longtime sweet love
relationship with Sarah was broken. Abram did not try to mediate between two
women. He restored spiritual order in his home, and made it clear that his wife
Sarai was the mistress of the home. So Sarai seized this opportunity to revenge
and treated Hagar harshly, and she said, “You dared to challenge my authority
and forgot who you were. Remember that you are nothing but my maidservant
though you are pregnant.” Two women’s jealousy flared and Hagar could not bear
Sarah’s mistreatment and fled into the desert.

What a tragedy! How sorrowful Abram would have been if
Hagar, carrying his unborn child perished in the desert. It was terrible for a
pregnant woman wandering in the desert. But God did not abandon Abram though he
made a mistake. God fixed his problem. God helped Hagar first. Look at verse 8.
“And he said, ’Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are
you going?’” First, God reminded her of her position as servant of Sarai. No
matter what happened to her, she was servant of Sarai. We should not forget who
we were before God and submit ourselves to the will of God humbly. God gave her
a new direction in verse 9, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her.” God
told her not to run away, but to go back and challenge her situation. He gave
her a promise concerning her son, Ishmael. Ishmael could not be the covenant
son, but God would bless him. Ishmael, the seed of Abram’s human mistake,
became the source of hostility towards the Jews even today. Look at verse 13b,
“You are the God who sees me.” How great is our God who sees and cares about
one lonely slave woman. Hagar met the God of Abram personally. She believed his
promise and obeyed his command, and returned to Sarah. Ishmael was a child of
impatience (which is unbelief), compromise and human calculations. He was a
son of the flesh. He could not be the inheritor of God’s eternal covenant. He
brought human joy and sorrow to Abram, and tension and unrest to Abram’s
household. God did not stop Abram from following his own way. He let him have
Hagar, even though it was a sin. At the same time, God did not abandon him,
either. He endured Abram’s human mistakes and cared for him and his family and
waited on his own time. In our spiritual life we also become impatient and invite
many pain and conflict and ruin God’s plan. We have to trust God and wait for
his appointed time to the end.

PART II. WALK BEFORE ME AND BE BLAMELESS (17:1)

Abram waited God for 10 years but
God waited Abram for 13 years. God did not forget Abram and waited for the
right time to help. Just as Jesus visited Peter when he was exhausted and
miserable due to his failure, so God visited Abram after 13 years of spiritual
vacuum. Thirteen years passed between chapters 16 and 17. Abram was 99 years
old when God spoke to him again. There was a 13-year gap in his spiritual life.
Look at verse 17:1. “When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to him and
said, “‘I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless.’” Why did God
appear to Abram when he was a 99 year old man? God waited Abram so long. Timing
is everything to God. God waited for the right time. God promised to bless
Abram and waited for a long time. Twenty-four years had passed since Abram came
to Canaan land and 13 years passed since Ishmael was born. Abram seemed to give
up his spiritual life. He said in verse 18, “Abraham said to God, ‘If only
Ishmael might live under your blessing!” God appeared to him when he was
exhausted and had no spiritual strength. It was the time God waited for so
long. God intervened in Abram’s life when he felt he could not do anything.
God’s time and our time are different. It is important for us to wait for God’s
time because he has plan in our life.

God introduced himself to Abram, “I am God Almighty.”
According to the note, it means “El-Shaddai.” It means that God is
all-sufficient mighty God. Abram did not know the mighty power of God and he
limited God to his childless problem. Now God wanted Abram to learn who he is
by appearing to him again. Everything is possible to God because he is the
creator of the heavens and the earth. Next, God told him what to do. “Walk
before me and be blameless.” God demanded Abram to get up from his complacent
life of sin and walk before him. Since the birth of Ishmael, Abram enjoyed Ishmael
and was contented with his own human possessions. Ishmael became a cute boy and
Abram took him to PTA meetings. He gave him a piggy-back-ride. Someone might
have asked him, “Are you a grandfather of Ishmael?” But Abram was happy when he
saw his visible son running around in front of him. He became a family man. He
forgot God’s promise and was attracted to his own son. In the past he followed
God and now he followed Ishmael. He probably stopped counting stars. In the
past Abram had a habit of counting stars in the starry night, ‘One star, one
descendant! Tow stars, two descendants! One thousands stars, one thousands
descendants!” His heart was burning with God’s vision. But now that he got one
star, he no longer looked up at the heavens and no longer had vision for
descendants like the millions twinkling stars in the heavens. He felt, “Now I
got a son and did not need God’s promise.” He became complacent and petty. In
the past he walked before God and now he walked before Ishmael, his human
product. He was walking before the world. He was walking before Hagar and
Sarah. He was living a compromised “Christian” life. He did not concern about
God’s plan of the world salvation. He was stuck with Ishmael. To God, it was a
serious problem because God wanted to save the whole world through him. So God
rebuked him severely. It is time for him to walk before God Almighty. God woke
him up from his spiritual slumber with his thunderous word. God shook him from
his comfortable nest and commanded him to be blameless. We feed sheep with a
great expectation but they leave when they have to grow up. They seem not to
care about our plan. Patience is important. God blessed Shepherd Bruce’s
patience. He was recommended as the teacher of the year in his school. We
despair but we must wait on God’s time. There are three spiritual stages in our
spiritual life-baby, toddler, and adult. God babysat Abraham for 24 years and
it is time for him to grow spiritually and walk before the Almighty God. When
we walk before God, we must be blameless. God used Zechariah and Elizabeth to
be John the Baptist’s parent because they observed all the Lord’s commandments
and regulations blamelessly. (Luke 1:6) Matthew 5:48 says, “Be perfect,
therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” It does not mean that we have
to be perfect in God. But we must imitate God’s holy character and grow in his
image in our daily walk. This was a call to Abram to repent of his petty,
family-centered life and walk before the Almighty God who had called him and
who had a great purpose for his life. When God blesses us and we have a house
and children, it is easy to forget God’s promise to make us a great nation and
to live as a petty man. We must walk before God. In chapter 22, he walked
before God when he sacrificed Isaac his covenant son. His faith grew and he
loved God more than the gift of God. I was sad when I did not walk before God
and was filled with many human excuses. My life was far from blameless before
God. I was sitting too long in the couches and was lying too long in the mat of
despair like a paralytic complaining that God is slow in answering my prayers.
But God is the Almighty and he wants us to walk before him and be blameless
trusting his promises. Are you walking before God today or before the world?
May God bless you to walk before the mighty God!

PART III. YOUR NAME WILL BE ABRAHAM (17:2-27)

Abram fell face down before God in repentance. Look at
verse 5. “No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I
have made you a father of many nations.” God changed Abram’s name; he renewed
his covenant with Abram; he commanded Abram to seal that covenant with
circumcision.

Abram means “noble father”; Abram was living a narrow,
family centered life. “Abraham” means “the father of many nations.” God wanted
to bless the whole world through Abraham. God had a bigger vision for Abraham.
God was looking for the salvation of the whole world through Abraham. Abraham
was to be, not only the physical father, but also the spiritual father of many
nations. Abraham’s vessel was too small to be a father of many nations. So God
changed his name from Abram to Abraham. It was beyond just changing name. God
prepared Abraham to become a father of faith for all nations. God also changed
Jacob, a deceiver into Israel when he struggled with God not with man. Jesus
changed Simon, a man of emotion, to Peter, a solid rock. After giving Abram a
new name, God renewed his covenant with him. Look at verse 7. “I will establish
my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants
after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your
descendants after you.” God revealed his covenant to be an everlasting one. The
Almighty God is an everlasting, eternal God, so God’s covenant with Abraham is
an everlasting covenant.

God promised that the land would be an everlasting
possession, given to Abraham and his descendants forever. God’s ultimate
purpose is to restore Paradise to give us as our everlasting possession. Though
we do not possess many things in this world, we have an everlasting inheritance
in the kingdom of God. Finally, the covenant which God made with Abraham was to
be sealed by the rite of circumcision. God wanted Abraham’s acceptance of the
covenant and its promises to be very concrete. He commanded him, as a sign and
seal of the covenant, to undergo circumcision, and to circumcise every male in
his household, including the teenager, Ishmael. This was a painful operation,
but by this act, Abraham would cut away from himself a compromising life and
commit himself and his family wholly to God. It would mean that the covenant
was sealed in blood. Romans 2:29 says, “No, a man is a Jew if he is one
inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by
the written code.” Through the repentance of our heart and believing Jesus’
death for our sins and his resurrection we are circumcised by heart. Then we
can possess eternal life in Jesus.

Then God brought out some surprises for Abraham. Since the
birth of Ishmael, Abraham had thought that his “no son” problem was solved. But
God told him that Ishmael, the son whom Abraham loved and in whom he had placed
his hope was not to be the covenant son. God would give Abraham a son by his
wife. Then God changed Sarai’s name to Sarah. Look at verse 15, “As for Sarai
your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah.”
Sarah’s character must match with Abraham’s. Wife’s role is important in our
mission life. She would be the mother of nations and of kings. Abraham
couldn’t believe it. He laughed to himself. And he prayed for Ishmael. But God
was very clear. Look at verse 19b, “You will call him Isaac.” Wow! God’s
promise became clearer and clearer. Now Isaac, whose name means “laughter”
would be born to Abraham by Sarah. He would be the covenant son. Abraham’s
relationship with God rested on God’s promise, which Abraham believed—not on
works or ritual, but on faith.

Abraham accepted God’s promise. He accepted God’s mission
and God’s covenant. On that very day he was circumcised; and on that day he
circumcised Ishmael and all those born in his house. Abraham’s obedience was
incredible. He obeyed immediately though it was painful for the old man to be
circumcised. This was an act of obedience that comes from faith. Abraham
believed that God is God Almighty. He made a decision to walk before him in
complete trust and obedience. God blessed Abraham to become a great nation with
his Mighty power. I pray that we all may walk before God not before men and a live
a blameless life as his servants. May God bless you to have a vision to be a
father of many young college students!